On Staten Island, Robert McGee, a 59-year-old hardhat was crushed to death when winds caused a 60-foot wall to collapse on top of him just after 8 a.m.

Two women were killed by falling tree limbs in New Jersey. One was a pedestrian leaving a Newark grocery store; the other was a motorist whose car was crushed on Route 22 in Mountainside.

The winds also fueled a fire in Woodhaven that engulfed 12 rowhouses and sent neighbors running for their lives.

Philip Cueva was driving nearby when he saw smoke rising from his 96th Street block. He blew through several red lights to get to his 18-month-old son, who was waiting outside.

“There was a whole lot of smoke,” he said. “When I got there, everyone was out of the house. First thing I thought was, ‘Thank God, my son’s OK.’ ”

The conflagration – which FDNY sources believe was sparked by a cigarette – erupted at 12:30 p.m. and quickly exploded into a five-alarm inferno, drawing nearly 170 firefighters to 96th Street near Atlantic Avenue.

It took more than three hours to get the blaze under control.

Edina Padilla, 18, was startled from sleep by the choking smoke. After running to the sidewalk, she rushed back in to save her Yorkshire terrier, Fendi.

“Everything was pitch black,” said the teen. “I had to pull my shirt over my head to get my dog.”

Another dog, Benji, a poodle, was stuck in smoldering 91-08 96th St. when neighbor Peter Bruno pulled him to safety.

“It was difficult to find the fire initially,” said FDNY Chief Salvatore Cassano. “The wind had a really big part in it.”

Yesterday’s sustained winds were at 20-25 mph, with gusts of 45-55 mph. There will be still be some heavy winds today, but they will gradually diminish while balmy temperatures will give way to near-freezing cold tonight.

Wind was also a culprit in the deadly construction accident on Staten Island.

McGee, who lived on Long Island, was a foreman at the site who was about to retire. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

“[He] was a really nice guy,” said one co-worker, who gave only his first name, Colin. “Everything would tell you was nice, even when you made a mistake.”

The city Buildings Department is investigating whether the wall was built properly, according to a spokeswoman. Three stop-work orders have been issued at the site since November 2007, the spokeswoman said.

The brutal winds snarled traffic at area airports. Delays at Newark reached five hours at one point.

Gusts bent a Long Island Rail Road crossing gate in Bethpage directly into the path of a train, shattering a window and injuring five commuters, including four who were treated for cuts at a nearby hospital. Another train, in Roslyn, was hit by a toppling telephone pole.

Debris from more than 24 construction sites was kicked up by the winds.

A window was jarred loose and fell 50 stories at the Bank of America construction site on Sixth Avenue at 42nd Street, where workers were removing glass. The Tishman project was slapped with two violations for failing to protect adjacent properties.

In another incident, cinderblocks from a job site in Union Square plunged through the roof next door. No one was injured.

Nearly 100,000 area residents lost power at the height of the gusts, but much of that service was restored by afternoon.